The Current Project

People need an escape from reality that moves and breaths, an escape they can hear and that will suck them in then hypnotize them. This is where Currents 2010 comes in. Currents 2010 is a prototype for a hopefully annual event called The Santa Fe Video Art and New Media Festival. Currents 2010 focuses on many of the same things as Site Santa Fe's The Dissolve, another exhibit of video art and new media work (12-5 pm, Sunday June 20, SITE Santa Fe,1606 Paseo De Peralta, 989-1199). In fact, The Dissolve is one of the biggest sponsors for Currents 2010 and they happen concurrently.“What we want to do is make a first-class new-media event yearly. New Mexico has a great deal of talent, and we want to make [New Mexico] a premier center for video art and new media work,” Frank Ragano, producer of the event, tells SFR. It's true, Woody and Steina Vasulka, Flame Schon and David Stout, who moved to Danton, Texas at the end of summer 2009 but will be returning to Santa Fe for this show, will be showing their work in Currents 2010.

The producers of the event (Frank Ragano and Mariannah Amster) in the future hope that their event will become more citywide. They would like to see it hop from venue to venue and always include both the local community and artists from around the world.

“Our events are always free to the public, It makes it easier for every one to become aware of the fairly new art form. We are already making plans with The Boys and Girls Club for them to make trips to the show," Ragano continues. Getting youth involved is an important part of Currents 2010; it features video art by teens from high schools around northern New Mexico. Youth are a big part of the event, but certainly not the only part.

Schon is a well established artist in the world of video art. Schon's work is known for its psychedelic and abstract quality. She would not go into too much detail about the installation for the sake of keeping it a secret, only to be reviled on the opening night of the show. Her installation was one of many being to be built on at El Museo Cultural Tuesday afternoon by the artists with the assistance of friends and students.

"It's a translucent chamber of sorts," Schon tells SFR of her installation. "I want it to be something deep that people can sink into," she says.

It took many people to start setting up Schon's installation today and will again tomorrow. However, two days is nothing. She has been working on this installation for roughly four months. "I had to be in the right mind-set to work on [the installation]. I used things to distract myself when I was not in that mind-set but knew I should be working," she says.

If you are already a fan of video art and new media, or completely new to new media and video art it is worth at least swinging by to see what everyone involved has been working to for many months.